Net Neutrality Faces US House Vote

[Norbert Klein]

Hi everybody in the NCUC,

though we are, as an ICANN body, oriented internationally, I think this US
debate is still worth while to e observed by us also carefully, as it is a
debate between limiting business interest and principled equality for all.


Norbert


----------  Forwarded Message  ----------
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Government-IT/Net-Neutrality-Faces-House-Vote/

Net Neutrality Faces House Vote
By Roy Mark. 2009-01-28

A small portion of the emergency $825 billion stimulus package scheduled
for a Jan. 28 U.S. House vote could hold big consequences for network
neutrality advocates. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's $6
billion in grants and loans to build out wireless networks comes
attached with network neutrality and open access strings. Telecom and
cable giants like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are likely to try to
eventually undo the network neutrality and open access mandates.

*The U.S. House is scheduled to vote Jan. 28 on an $825 billion stimulus
package attaching network neutrality and open access strings for $6
billion in grants and loans to build out broadband networks in unserved
and underserved areas of the country.* If—as widely expected—the
American Recovery and Reinvestment passes the House, it will represent
the first successful congressional action on network neutrality. *The
House legislation requires the winners of the funding to allow any legal
device to be connected to the new networks, and network operators are
prohibited from discriminating in the handling of network traffic. The
mandates do not apply to existing networks.
*
While the Senate is still in the process of drafting its recovery
package, *the Senate approved Jan. 27 an Appropriations Committee
package that requires "non-discrimination and network interconnection
obligations" for the $9 billion allocated for new broadband networks.*

*"For those of us who waited for a new day to advance the cause of
preserving a free, open and non-discriminatory Internet, the language in
the House stimulus package is a great first step toward reclaiming the
Internet and establishing once and for all the concept that carriers
can't discriminate," Art Brodsky, communications director of Public
Knowledge, wrote on the PK blog *Jan. 27. Brodsky, a veteran of
Washington's telecom policy debates, warns, though, that it is still a
long road to seeing network neutrality and open access become part of
law, even if it's applied only to networks built under the bill.

"The most dangerous part of this game has yet to occur. The House will
pass its bill. The Senate will pass its bill. How the two will reconcile
their differences is not yet known," Brodsky wrote. "A traditional
conference committee is unlikely given the time constraints. The
telephone companies and Chamber of Commerce have started complaining
about the conditions, even though they haven't mounted a public challenge."

Public or not, telephone and cable giants like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast
are adamantly opposed to congressionally imposed network neutrality and
open access requirements, objecting to the idea of government control
over their network management practices. Under Republican control and
the Bush administration, telecoms and cable companies successfully
blocked any congressional action on the issues.

"The best opportunity to strip out the progressive elements of the
telecom provisions will be in the reconciliation process, much of which
will take place behind closed doors," Brodsky noted. "At this point,
it's not certain who will be at the table, particularly if there isn't a
formal conference committee. It will be up to the champions of open
networks to make sure those provisions stay in." In the House, a network
neutrality amendment to a telco reform bill failed in 2006. The Senate
has never had a floor vote on network neutrality, but the Senate
Commerce Committee voted against a network neutrality amendment to the
2006 telco reform bill. Since then, the network neutrality debate has
centered around the Federal Communications Commission's legal status and
ability to enforce the agency's Internet principles. In August 2005, the
FCC declared that consumers are entitled to access the lawful Internet
content of their choice, run applications and services of their choice,
and plug in and run legal devices of their choice. The FCC also said
consumers have a right to competition among network providers,
application and service providers, and content providers.

The FCC declared Aug. 1 that Comcast was violating the agency's Internet
policy when it blocked peer-to-peer traffic by BitTorrent. The agency
also found that Comcast misled consumers when it did not properly
disclose its P2P policy. While Comcast was not fined for the network
neutrality violation, the FCC ordered Comcast to cease the practice and
to keep the public informed of its future network management plans.
Comcast complied with the order but also went to court to challenge the
FCC's authority to enforce the principles.


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